Enumerated: We are the Mafia
by Nightsmoke
Summary: A series of points, secrets, and little things that no one in the Vongola's really stopped to notice over the years. If they had, they'd probably scream.
1. 12 things Rokudo Mukuro is afraid of

All characters © Amano Akira

_Summary: _A series of points, secrets, and little things that no one in the Vongola's really stopped to notice over the years. If they had, they'd probably scream.

* * *

_**Enumerated: We are the Mafia**_

_12 things Rokudo Mukuro is afraid of_

_._

1. Cameras. Mukuro is not ashamed of his true form, even though he loves disguises more than any other illusionist in the mafia. He knows that he's beautiful, and he knows that everyone else knows it too. Taller than average, thin as a whipcord, and with a dignified, salient Eurasian descent, Mukuro takes pride in his looks (and on top of that, he has one _hell_ of a six-pack, no pun on his powers intended). But he doesn't like to be recognized. He knows that if your face falls into the hands of the media, _anyone_ can find you...and Mukuro is currently one of Italy's most sought-out fugitives. There really was no reason to have Lancia's picture as his WANTED photograph, but Mukuro did it anyway as an extra precaution. No way in hell (no further pun intended) is his going back_ there._

2. Doctors. Also shots, hospitals, and dentists, if you want to be specific. Long range fighting and using Chrome's body is not just for show. Rokudo Mukuro cares as much about his body as Gokudera Hayato doesn't. This is because he has no desire to set even one toe into a medical facility, and he takes certain precautions so that he will never have to. He is not germophobic or mysophobic nor a health freak, but he does prioritize physical care. Doctors always poke and prod in all the wrong places, and it's just a little too reminiscent of the old days when bland-faced men with scars and marble eyes would strap him to a gurney and...and _do_ things. Perhaps Sawada Tsunayoshi is one of the select few who knows of Mukuro's deep-set hatred and fear of doctors, and who is aware that altering his medical records had been the only thing Rokudo Mukuro had ever asked of Hibari Kyouya. Tsuna is also probably the only one who's noticed after ten years that Mukuro has never been sick even once.

3. Honesty. Mukuro isn't sure if he hears more lies or spews them himself. Dishonestly is the mark of a flawed human, and flawed humans are normal, acceptable in society. The bad liars burn their listeners with stories too hot to take in, but Mukuro is very good. He's the teapot of BS, spouting un-truths so believable that people never get burned right away by what's coming out. Lies are used to cover up shame, insecurity, reputation. Fear. Mukuro lies about his name, his age, and the massacre of his past because it's something he does not like to face. It's the honest people who really scare him, because they are the ones who have even more confidence than he does and believe they have absolutely nothing to hide.

4. Death. Mukuro's seen the six paths to Hades, and he's seen that there _is_ a hell. This unsettles him not because he fears going there (he figures he will anyway), but because, well...for a man who uses time and space as his local playpen, Mukuro doesn't like the fact that another world besides this one exists that he has absolutely no control over.

5. The Arcobaleno. They are the only beings as far as he knows who can cheat death. They will never age nor die if they are not killed, and Mukuro both hates and reveres them for it. Anybody that is as close to immortality as they are have _earned_ the right to be feared.

6. Aquariums. Rokudo feels like he's honestly the only person there who knows what it feels like to be on the other side of that glass. Somehow the eyes of those creatures seem too sad, too lonely, filled with dreams of endless waves, freedom, and of a place where they once were. How old is that manatee that stares back at him? Ten? Twenty? Rokudo knows what it's like to spend years incarcerated in a glass cage with only your bubbles to count and the sound of your breath to keep you company.

7. Identity Crisis. He has been so many people and things over the years that sometimes he has to say his name aloud first thing in the morning. Along with the implantation of a foreign eye into his optical nerve came a slew of swirling memories, memoirs longer than lifespans, information and feelings that weren't even his. Sometimes he has to remind himself that he's Rokudo Mukuro, that he's fifteen (or twenty-five, depending on how close he is to the Bovino headquarters at the time). But sometimes he will remember a past life that his eye whispers to him in dreams and he's not so sure anymore. Mukuro has felt the loss of others in the span of his lifetime (and of past lives), but to lose himself too would be his worst nightmare.

8. Possession. Ironic, as Mukuro cuts subordinates with his trident on an almost weekly basis. He's afraid of two things: being possessed himself, and having the possessed turn on him. There had been one fleeting moment, during his early years in Chrome's body, where he had not been able to leave it right away when he'd wanted to, and it had terrified him. He can think of nothing more horrible than being trapped in a fleshsuit that's not his. Forever. Perhaps the only thing worse than that is having someone in _his,_ puppeteering his limbs to do things that he would never do and stretching his lips with rubber words that he would never say. It's the feeling of displacement, of being _managed_ that is worse than any physical pain, Mukuro believes.

9. Airplanes. It's a well-known fact that Rokudo Mukuro has control and micro-management issues. Most of his deep-set fears stem from loss of control in one form of another, this being no exception. Sitting in a contraption up at 27 thousand feet zipping through cumulonimbi at 500 mph where his life is in the hands of strangers is something Mukuro will never admit bothers him.

10. Daemon Spade. Mukuro fears things and concepts, but rarely people. Vendicare doesn't count; Mukuro sees them as more of ominous harbingers than actual human beings. Daemon Spade is the one exception, partially because he too can cheat death. The Arcobaleno can escape the grave because they are cursed; Spade can because he broke the rules. And he's been avoiding the reaper for much, much longer. But that's not what sends ice splinters down the nape of Mukuro's neck. It's the fact that Daemon Spade is literally him in every sense...including what he could become. Spade, in the end, had ended up working _for_ the mafia. Over the course of a few centuries he also became so out-of-touch with reality that he had been easily defeated by the tenth generation _famiglia._ When thinking about Spade, Mukuro sometimes wonders if it isn't best just to accept death after all.

11. Reality. Mukuro doesn't mind dreams; it's the waking up that's the difficult part. He doesn't want to become like Daemon Spade, who lost the concept of reality altogether and more or less slipped into an eternal dementia. Reality cannot be warped, nor can it be erased or easily tampered with. Reality is absolute...it's your head that changes. Most illusory pundits seem to forget this fact. Mukuro fears reality because it's a place where his illusions will never reach the surface, and a place where they will never make a difference unless people _believe_.

12. Abandonment. Mukuro has three people in his life: Ken, Chikusa, and Chrome Dokuro. They're all he needs, and he admits to himself that he does need them. Ken and Chikusa are most likely the only living people who know what happened in the Estraneo's basement, and Chrome, like them, had also been discarded by her family like a used tissue. As much as he would like to say it to their faces, they are the world, his world, and the only times Rokudo Mukuro has ever cried have been in the cold mornings in which he awakes from a dream where their existence has never been.


	2. 12 things Xanxus never got arrested for

All characters © Amano Akira

_Summary: _A series of points, secrets, and little things that no one in the Vongola's really stopped to notice over the years. If they had, they'd probably scream.

* * *

_**Enumerated: We are the Mafia**_

_12 things Xanxus never got arrested for_

_._

1. Arson. Xanxus is not afraid to use his Flame of Wrath, nor his Dying Will X-guns to prove his point. It's more about the theatrics of it than anything. Who can blame him if his tools of the trade are all flammable weapons, anyway? It's not his concern where the flames _go._ Over the years, Xanxus has set fire to four different mafia headquarters as well as demolished two Japanese high schools, a department store, a shopping mall, and an airport. He is not a pyromaniac, but he cannot deny the small (or not so small) satisfaction it gives him to destroy something with his own hands. And set it on fire.

2. Kidnapping. Fran never _wanted_ to join the Varia. After the Negative Seven Rays started oozing noxiously into the atmosphere and it was apparent that Mammon wasn't going to be around for much longer, Rokudo Mukuro and Xanxus had made a private deal in which Mukuro would sell Fran to Xanxus and Xanxus would provide sufficient payment. It is the one thing the Varia has to thank Byakuran for; Rokudo Mukuro had not lied when he said that Fran was one of the best illusionists in the world. So the Varia barged in one night and had simply taken him. No questions asked. Everyone thought it was a pretty good deal in the end, except for Fran. Well...even Fran's coming to enjoy pissing the hell out of the Varia since he's never quite forgiven them for abducting him.

3. DWI. Xanxus cannot get through a normal day without at least two tequilas (when asked whether this is a product of his dependency or his subordinates, he chooses not to answer). He's been drinking since the age of nine, but no one in the mafia really cares about that sort of thing anyway since alcohol has always been a part of the Italian tradition. Only Squalo and Lussuria are able to tell when Xanxus is thoroughly inebriated, since his drunk self has few differences from his sober one. They try to keep him within Headquarters when that happens, but their attempts are always futile since Xanxus is not a child and does not like to be treated like one. It's only when Xanxus takes the Lamborghini out that Squalo has to notify the Italian authorities to try to clear the highways.

4. Burglary. Xanxus, like many in the mafia, was not raised as a normal child was. He was the spawn of Northern Italian mendicants where mental illness was common in the bloodline and delusion even more so. He has never been taught the meaning of "no," nor the concept of right and wrong; only that he is special and special people have privileges. Special people don't have to ask before doing things. When living in the main house, Xanxus had seen nothing wrong with going into the Consiglieris' private offices and taking the things he wanted. Or walking into the chef's pantry and grabbing a snack that was tomorrow's guests' dinners. The Ninth's most trusted had suspicions as to where their belongings (some of them valuable, some of them not) had disappeared to, but none of them had ever dared to ask. Even now, Xanxus has no qualms about breaking and entering since he had never been taught that it was wrong. To this day Sawada Tsunayoshi is still wondering where the René vase in his guest room went off to.

5. Credit card fraud. The Ninth had given the Varia an amiable budget and even their own mansion-slash-headquarters, but Xanxus uses the Ninth's credit card anyway. There's no reason why; he just does. He thought memorizing the pin number would be useful back when he was still part of the main house, and it turns out to be very amusing indeed when the Ninth gets his monthly bills.

6. Extortion. Quite common in the mafia, so if the Italian government had wanted to crack down mafioso on the basis of extortion they would have done it a long time ago. Xanxus doesn't need money, but he's often recruited to, ah, _extract_ information or valuables from certain families. He doesn't like to do the whole ransom/hostage shit, and he's not partial to the type of torture Bel uses, but he does have his own unique charm of threats. And he's quite good at it. Part of the Varia's unbelievable success rate is because of the fact that they are all intimidating enough (though others, if asked, may opt for the term insane) to be expert extortioners. It's actually where the phrase "Varia Quality" first originated from, though not many people know this.

7. Illegal possession of firearms. Like Xanxus would bother with permits for his guns. In his humble opinion, he was special. He shouldn't have _permission_ to be powerful.

8. Tax evasion. He just forgets, really. Or simply doesn't feel like it. And when the government warning notices arrive in the mail he has Squalo take care of the finances because he won't admit to himself that he has no idea how to do it. When Squalo finally declared that 'this shit wasn't his responsibility,' Xanxus..._convinced_ the Vongola Tenth to cover of all the Varia's taxes.

9. Child abuse. Xanxus physically injures his subordinates on a daily basis, but that's just how he works. The only difference is that Bel is a minor; Xanxus isn't. But Bel doesn't really mind the hitting, burning, or having large objects of the room thrown at him. He considers himself lucky compared to the underlings...especially the cooks who never really seem to learn that Xanxus likes his filet mignon rare. Bel grins as he hears a crash from one of the upper floors of the mansion, because it could be a lot worse. At least Xanxus hasn't killed him yet.

10. Property damage. The Varia headquarters is one of the few buildings in all of Italy to have _two_ fire extinguishers in each room. However, they technically own the HQ mansion so it's when they are abroad that the Varia has more difficulty. Then it's usually Lussuria who is in charge of writing the checks to unfortunate proprietors who have had their establishments marred by Xanxus's temper. Lussuria has the most charisma, and is probably the reason why none of the aforementioned establishments have sued them yet. Property damage is the most likely answer to why more than 6000 Euros a year drop from their paycheck, and why Xanxus sometimes resorts to filching off the Ninth's personal credit card for his expenses.

11. Public nuisance. Do you really have to ask?

12. Mass murder. Xanxus was capable of murder by age eleven, although he didn't actually start killing until sixteen. He had no reason to, until the Old Man happily provided one on a silver platter. During the year of the Cradle Affair, Xanxus realized that murder could be _fun,_ that it was a simply _fantastic_ way to channel all of his pent-up feelings of rage. He had gathered five other misfits to help him with his coup, and they killed some, but not as many as him because for him it was personal. Xanxus wiped out entire branches of the Vongola by himself that year, and perhaps only Rokudo Mukuro would have understood the slight smile that curled up his face as he did it.


	3. 12 things Sawada Tsunayoshi never knew

All characters © Amano Akira

_Summary: _A series of points, secrets, and little things that no one in the Vongola's really stopped to notice over the years. If they had, they'd probably scream.

* * *

_**Enumerated: We are the Mafia**_

_12 things Sawada Tsunayoshi never knew about his mother_

_._

1. Sawada Nana earned the Kendo title of _renshi roku-dan_ by the age of seventeen. Tsuna's lucky there are no long, wooden poles of any kind in the house besides the brooms and the upright lamps. Nana still has her uniform somewhere in the back of her closet despite the fact that she's given it up for a life of cooking pork buns. It still fits her.

2. When she was pregnant with Tsuna, Sawada Nana used to sing to him in fluent Italian. Tsuna has no musical inclination in the least, but whenever he hears Masagni or Rossini or Verdi on the classical station he feels a certain, unexplainable fondness.

3. Sawada Nana can fool almost anyone with the ruse of a charming yet absent-minded woman. Year after year she convinces Tsuna's teachers to let him graduate despite his almost laughable grade point average. She's even managed to escape mafioso enemies by playing dumb. Reborn once made a comment that no one in the Sawada family is as they seem, and she couldn't agree with him more.

4. She used to hate anything and everything banana-flavored, since it got so _annoying_ when Iemitsu teased her and called her his "Banana-Nana." Now, as she watches the clock in her kitchen and counts down the hours until he'll call, Nana can't remember when banana _hasn't_ been her favorite flavor.

5. The Ninth is actually her biological uncle. Tsuna's bloodline comes from her, and not from Iemitsu.

6. Sawada Nana used to be a professional assassin for the Vongola CEDEF, known notoriously as the "Seven Sins" in her prime (yet another pun on her name). She's killed people with the same hands that washed her son's hair, changed his diapers, and tucked him into bed at night.

7. It was her idea to name Tsuna after a Japanese shogun. Iemitsu's mother had done the same, and she thought it would be nice to carry on the tradition. History has a way of catching up with you, Nana notices, and she is almost positive that Tsuna believes the very same thing.

8. Sawada Nana had been in contact with Reborn before he moved to Japan. When he decided to come as a home tutor, she gave him full permission to employ his Spartan Teaching Methods (as long as he didn't kill Tsuna). Tsuna was in school at the time, and had gotten somewhat of a shock when he came home to find out that he was the next candidate as a mafia boss. Even more shocked than getting hit by a baby with a sledgehammer.

9. She likes to pretend that Tsuna is there when he isn't, since it helps put her mind at ease. When Tsuna's gone she cleans his room, washes his clothes, and occasionally writes absence forms to Namimori for when he gets back from his "field trips." Ipin often helps her. Tsuna sometimes takes his sparkling room or fresh-smelling shirts for granted when he comes home; he thanks his mom with a kiss and runs upstairs to do his homework, never stopping to consider the fact that Nana's overjoyed to finally have someone around to make things messy again.

10. Screw pepper spray or mace; Sawada Nana keeps a pair of loaded M9's in her purse. Reborn is aware of this, and so is Bianchi.

11. She and Reborn sometimes meet late at night to discuss current events. The coffee keeps him up; worry keeps her. They talk about the Millefiore, Shimon, Italy, new Vongola weapons, and anything else that crosses their minds as the moon rises. Sawada Nana is up to date with everything her son has done, is doing, and will be doing. He just doesn't know it.

12. Sawada Nana misses her husband more than she says she does. Every night, when the sky fades to black, she prays that Iemitsu is doing well. Lately she has begun to pray for Tsuna too, since he's home almost as seldom as her husband is. When she is done, Nana tucks herself into bed and tries not to notice how cold the sheets are, comforting herself with the image of her men coming home to her with open arms. So far the only answers Nana's gotten are the soft creaks of the house settling, and the wind humming through the windows. But she still waits.


	4. 12 theories Gokudera Hayato never shared

All characters © Amano Akira

_Summary: _A series of points, secrets, and little things that no one in the Vongola's really stopped to notice over the years. If they had, they'd probably scream.

* * *

_**Enumerated: We are the Mafia**_

_12 theories Gokudera Hayato never shared_

_._

1. Bianchi can telepathically communicate with animals. At one point Gokudera even believed she could speak parseltongue (this was after reading a translated version of Harry Potter; if he had been an American citizen he may have referenced something more creative like _The Wild Thornberrys_). Gokudera can't help but marvel sometimes at how his sister can get any creature to do virtually anything she wants it to; she's always been good with animals. Maybe it's the way she looks at them, or somehow tunes in to their brainwaves in a way Gokudera couldn't possibly comprehend. It's a gift, definitely. It's also a shame Bianchi uses most of those poor souls for her cooking.

2. Basil is the hermaphrodite lovechild of Iemitsu and Oregano. It makes perfect sense, when you factor everything into the equation. And Gokudera just happens to be an expert at almost every type of math.

3. Hibari Kyouya is part robot. Who knows; maybe there is a kind of surgery out there which replaces your heart with a mechanical prototype. Gokudera has no trouble believing in science fiction. It is the only explanation for how someone could have such little character and a vocabulary repertoire of three sentences. Gokudera would have to ask Shamal about it later. If that proves to be wrong, he will conclude that Hibari Kyouya either suffers from Aspergers, OCD, or juvenile paraphrenia.

4. Sasagawa Kyoko puts psychoactive drugs in her brother's milk every morning. There is no way Ryohei can naturally be in Dying Will mode all day unless he is on some kind of upper. It's physically impossible for _anyone_ to be in that mode, unrelenting, for hours and hours. The Tenth and Basil both take pills to induce it, so Ryohei must be doing the same, even if he doesn't know it. Gokudera suspects that it's Kyoko, but it could really be anyone in the Sasagawa household. Ryohei is not only blissfully ignorant, but extremely gullible. She's probably been telling him that they are "vitamins" or "energy boosters."

5. Varia are themed around the seven deadly sins because they are actually demons from hell in human skinsuits. Gokudera has never seen _anyone_ from the Varia eat, sleep, or falter in any sort of way that could possibly constitute them as "human." Granted, he lives in a different country eight hours over the globe most of the time, but Gokudera is sure of this fact nonetheless. Plus, the Varia has assassination skills that have been described as "demonic" by the mafia world. There was even one time where he thought he saw Squalo lick up a don's blood after a job...although that could have very well been his imagination at work. Despite the fact that he has never seen a real demon, Gokudera claims there is little possibility that the Varia can be human.

6. Kakimoto Chikusa must have had a prefrontal lobotomy sometime as a child. The yo-yo bastard's life and pride had been on the line back in the days when Mukuro had set out to possess the Tenth, but he had fought Gokudera lazily, mechanically. Gokudera had looked into those eyes, those dusty milk-marble eyes, and had seen nothing. Well, almost nothing; there had been emotions so dulled it had damn near been ennui. It had been like fighting a sack of flour. No one with that much to lose can fight so bloodlessly, so _apathetically_ unless their state of mind has been medically altered, Gokudera believes. Strangely, this is one theory in which Gokudera has no idea that he is absolutely right. Kakimoto Chikusa was lobotomized by the Estraneo family at the age of nine.

7. Yamamoto has a lower IQ than a squirrel. Sure, he's got street smarts, sport smarts, and can get by with pearly whites and an even tan, but there's not much going on upstairs. Gokudera's seen it in school as proof; Yamamoto gets A's and B's in phys ed, deportment, and attendance...but C's and D's in almost all of his subjects. And ninth grade classes aren't even that hard to begin with. Yamamoto just doesn't use his brain half as much as he should.

8. Miura Haru is capable of murder. Gokudera's seen this with his own eyes, even though he's pretty sure Haru has not killed anyone. Yet. Haru comes from that awful stereotype of Japanese schoolgirls with shrill voices and violent proclivities. She's beaten boys up before with a ruthlessness that, quite frankly, makes Gokudera break out in gooseflesh. It's not normal. He's seen her in action, and knows deep down that if Haru really put her mind to it, she could do a lot more than pummel unfortunate teenage boys. Somehow, this is a theory that does not entirely displease Gokudera.

9. Shamal gave Tsuna a stuttering virus when he came to Japan. Tsuna doesn't stutter all the time—and it's more like stammering, really, but Gokudera will bet all of his cigarettes that Shamal has something to do with it. It's the fact that Tsuna has no history of ever having a speech impediment (Gokudera checked) and since it _obviously_ can't be psychological, it has to be the work of a foreign body.

10. Gokudera is pretty sure that Irie and Spanner are gay lovers. They are always together, talking in that computer jargon Gokudera likes to call Geekese (although there are probably some dirty words thrown in there; take _The Sexy Data Tango_ by Voltaire, as a perfect example of that) and working on new "projects" alone for hours. Gokudera has suspicions that Spanner owns a set of fluorescent purple briefs, but he cannot accredit that until he has actual proof. Not that he wants it, by any means.

11. Lambo will be a sex god and/or a gigolo by the time he's twenty. This is one of Gokudera's more private theories, one that only makes a fleeting appearance in his subconscious because he know he won't be able to refrain from braying laughter if the thought surfaces entirely in his mind. Lambo is growing up to be surprisingly handsome, and he has a way with women that would make Shamal himself weep in self pity. And Lambo knows it, too. He's pure Italian: thick-haired, light-eyed, and olive-skinned. Gokudera just knows he'll have to rein the kid in when he starts dating and getting his first wet dreams.

12. Metempsychosis is a real thing. Others call it reincarnation, but Gokudera opts for more pragmatic terms. He doesn't know what it is, but he believes that there is _something _at work here. Call it fate, a higher power, the Order of All Things. Why else would they all look and act almost exactly like the first generation of Vongola? Every single one of them?


	5. 12 facts that never made Guinness

All characters © Amano Akira

_Summary: _A series of points, secrets, and little things that no one in the Vongola's really stopped to notice over the years. If they had, they'd probably scream.

* * *

_**Enumerated: We are the Mafia**_

_12 facts that never made the Guinness Book (but could have)  
_

_._

1. Reborn can lift almost ten times his weight. Having his physique changed from that of a grown man's to an infantsbody apparently had no effect on his physical performance. There's muscle there _somewhere._

2. Lambo can endure up to 3,000 volts of lightning and walk away unscathed. His movements may be a litter jerky for a few hours following, but nothing else indicates that he'd just been hit with enough electricity to explode a municipal building. That's even more than the Primo Guardian of Thunder Lampo could stand; no one knows how the kid does it.

3. Xanxus spent eight years encased in ice with almost no repercussions other than the fact that he catches colds easily. Cryogenicists everywhere are baffled. He's also holds the greatest number of times for _almost_ being arrested: 45. Taking into account Xanxus is only twenty-four (minus those eight years), he considers his lawsuit more impressive than actually being frozen.

4. In one sitting, Sasagawa Ryohei can eat five of those three-foot jars of tri-flavored popcorn before he starts to feel full. Sure, he may have a little gas afterward, but it's less than he can say for anyone else who dares challenge him to an eating contest.

5. Sawada Tsunayoshi can still remain completely lucid with a tested BAC of 0.75 percent. With a body mass index is so low that it is almost the same as Chrome Dokuro's, it's incredible how little alcohol affects him.

6. Shamal has held the record for the highest IQ in all of Italy and Southern Europe since he was sixteen. The best part of it was that he had taken three different IQ tests _at the same time_, and had scored near perfectly on them all. He is perhaps the best multitasker in the Northern Hemisphere.

7. Bianchi's made food smellier than surströmming. Most of Northern Japan can account for it.

8. Skull won't set any records for bodily piercings, but he will set one for having the largest private combat army in Europe, and acclaiming the title of their Commander by the age of fourteen.

9. Irie Shouichi can not only crack a binary code in under a minute; he can solve any multi-step algorithm in his head in seconds. Questions on cryptography, Morse code, ciphertext? You can ask Spanner, but Shouichi is a master.

10. Rokudo Mukuro spends his entire nights in REM sleep. Most young adults spend 20 percent to a quarter of their nights in REM sleep, but Mukuro spends 95-100 percent of it. It is a self-induced state of hypnosis, a subconscious protective barrier from which his mind can never progress to NREM, or the non-rem stages.

11. Superbi Squalo can fight nonstop for 50 hours. His body simply refuses to shut down despite the enormous physical strain, which is partially how he earned the nickname "The Shark." Those videos of his battles that he would send Yamamoto Takeshi in the future were all fought within the span of a week. He could also beat Eric Hahn for the world's tallest mohawk any day, but Squalo doesn't have the time for that. He's too busy fighting.

12. Chrome Dokuro can survive without three essential organs. Her liver, intestines, and the pylorus of her stomach are near gone. She doesn't know it, but her body had never recognized Mukuro's illusions as actual functioning organs. The internal pain she feels when somebody disrupts her connection with Mukuro only threatens her life because it is dangerously psychosomatic.


	6. 12 things that took less time to destroy

All characters © Amano Akira

_Summary: _A series of points, secrets, and little things that no one in the Vongola's really stopped to notice over the years. If they had, they'd probably scream.

* * *

_**Enumerated: We are the Mafia**_

_12 things that took considerably less time to destroy than they did to build_

_._

1. Ken's teeth. He vaguely remembers his parents telling him about the joys of the Tooth Fairy: how fun it was to wiggle loose teeth, lose them, and watch as the Big Teeth grew in. And the money under the pillow, that was the best. Now, thinking back, Ken realizes that it was a pointless child's fantasy, an empty joy. For all the hype up about the Big Teeth, it hadn't been worth it. The Estraneo had ended up pulling them all out anyway.

2. Namimori's baseball field. It looks fine—even picturesque upon a first glance; the sun shines down over soft dirt and a vast grass outfield peppered by sparse trees. A metal fence outlines the field to make the scene complete. But if you look closer you'll find that the ground of the infield is lumpy and uneven, and some of the grass in the outfield gleams with the overly verdant hue of AstroTurf. Many of Namimori's athletic boys know not to run too fast because there is a risk of tripping. What they _don't_ know is that the field was once ravaged by dynamite, plumes of fire, 25,000 gallons of water, several direct volts of lightning, and TNT explosives that may or may not have had anything to do with a past Vongola battle. Hibari Kyouya himself had helped with the repairs after threatening the Cervello at tonfa-point to provide the necessary funds.

3. Fran's reputation as a woobie. It promptly shattered one night when Fran not only made 26 sub-troops of the Millefiore die unbelievably violent deaths, but created a different form of death for each individual (that's over 90 men), made himself comfortable, and then watched them die.

4. The west wing of Varia Headquarters. You should really know better than to ask by now.

5. Sawada Tsunayoshi's trust with Hibari Kyouya. Tsuna had worked for _years_ to try to get on Hibari's good side, but Mukuro blew it all to hell in their junior year after the latter decided to impersonate him one afternoon. It is a proven fact that Mukuro and boredom create one of the deadliest spawns in the Vongola, and with nothing better to do then, he had disguised himself as Tsuna and had messed with Hibari. Watching Sawada Tsunayoshi act like a bastard and spit vulgarities all over Namimori's brick walls with a can of spray paint had not sat well with Hibari at all. Tsuna took a week's absence of school because he was too afraid to face Hibari afterward. It had taken months and excessive apologies to soften that caustic glare.

6. Reborn's coffee machine. And the bones broken after. Apparently Lambo _does_ know how to push at least one of Reborn's buttons. It's a shame that Tsuna is always the one who has to pay for it in the end, both physically and pecuniary-related. That machine had been an expensive one, too.

7. Bel's sanity. With every stroke of the knife an eight-year-old Bel felt his grin growing wider by the molar until he thought his face would simply split. He was the Cheshire cat, coy and sinuous, insidious behind a clown's leer. Rasiel had always been older, better, smarter, more charming. Now Rasiel was on bottom for once, and it felt _terrific._

8. Squalo's hair. Twenty years to grow it out to his calves, 190 seconds to cut it off due to an unfortunate incident with Lussuria, a wet floor, and the garbage disposal. To say that Squalo was "put out" should have replaced the term "understatement" in the dictionary.

9. Sawada Tsunayoshi's dignity. He had been curious: nothing more or nothing less. For a long time how, he had just wanted to see what it would look like on him. Kyoko just happened to walk in at the wrong time. He had been doing a pretty decent job of trying to style his hair into a mild rendition of Kusakabe's pompadour before he realized that she was there. The gel had been dripping from the ends of his hair onto his nose as Tsuna stood before the mirror in nothing but his boxers, silently cursing his mother for letting guests into the house without telling him. Kyoko had told him it was cute, but Tsuna interpreted the smile she wore for the weeks following as a different one entirely.

10. The Arcobaleno curse. Verde and Mammon had been trying to break it for years, and had been gathering the sufficient resources in which to do so for more than a decade. They had figured out the key long ago, but they were hesitant. They all had a duty, and it was a duty that relied on them guarding the pacifiers. However Sawada Tsunayoshi, cognizant of their duties and the curse, couldn't care less. Tsuna turned twenty, decided to make the curse a priority, and it was broken in less than five minutes. The mental recovery at seeing a six-foot Reborn took weeks, though.

11. The 1914 Littorio coffee table after Dino tripped over a bump in the carpet and fell on it. Romario almost shed a tear; that coffee table had been an heirloom from the Seventh Generation of the Cavallone family. He knows now not to put any of the valuable furniture in the family room or near the stairs, but it was a hard lesson learned.

12. The Vongola. It had taken almost four hundred years to build. But when Tsuna officially inherited his title of _Decimo_ and gained enough power, he made good on his vow and tore it apart like soft cheese. No one thought that he would _actually_ destroy the Vongola Famiglia, but Tsuna's companions soon found out that he had grown up to be the type of man who made good on his every word. Besides, he had been saying for almost ten years that he would destroy the mafia. It was just that no one had taken him seriously.


	7. 8 different types of smiles you will see

All characters © Amano Akira

_Summary: _A series of points, secrets, and little things that no one in the Vongola's really stopped to notice over the years. If they had, they'd probably scream.

* * *

_**Enumerated: We are the Mafia**_

_8 different types of smiles you'll see in the mafia  
_

_._

1. The small, thin-lipped smile of Bianchi's. It's the kind of smile she gives that faintly hints at the kind of woman she'll grow up to be: observant, mature, humored at the sight of youth. It's the smile that appears when watching Hayato, Tsunayoshi, and the rest of them flounder about in their quotidian shenanigans. It's the smile that says boys will always be boys; they are so loud, so immature, and still teenagers despite everything. Bianchi uses this smile a lot, since it's a spectator's smile. She _could_ fight and thoroughly hand their asses to them on a silver food platter, but it's more fun to watch them epically failing at cooking cup noodles than anything.

2. Most people can't help but fall for Tsuna's smile, which is heart-wrenching in how endearing and honest it is. It's open, crinkling up at the eyes, but above all, it's trustful. Sawada Tsunayoshi believes in giving everyone a chance—and although he may not be the smartest, the strongest, nor the most talented, that smile sits there, silently letting you know that everything will be all right. Somehow. Tsuna has used this smile to gather and tame even the most wild of beasts. Especially the ones in his own family.

3. Like Bianchi's, Reborn's smile is also a spectator's smile. He usually pulls down his orange-laced fedora to do it, so that the curling up of his lips is encased in shadow. It's a grin so devilish that women, young or old, instantly fall for. Reborn _only_ smiles this kind of smile, as it is the one that suggests that he's seen it all before, that he's known all along. There is a hint of smugness to this smile, because generally, whatever it is that has caused the smile is usually due to his own influence in one way or another. Manipulating Hibari Kyouya into doing something for the Family, discussing a deal with Shamal, or whacking Tsuna with a sledgehammer; it's always the same smile. Most of the Arcobaleno have similar, owlish smiles because contrary to their appearances, they are a _lot_ older than they look.

4. Rokudo Mukuro smiles quite often. Despite the smirks and leers and snickers, he doesn't have much of a sense of humor (his mirth stems mostly from sadism and schadenfreude, which is generally only amusing in the eyes of the beholder). He smiles broadly, widely, but it is one with fake humor that covers pain, one that doesn't touch his eyes. A smile that is used to hide. With those smiles, well, there is never any_ real_ humor attached to them. It's just for show, like his illusions that can be seen but not touched. His charm is like biting into a spoiled cake: all frosting and sweetness, but once your teeth set in you find yourself chewing on maggots and squirming things and something truly nasty.

5. Gokudera tries, he really does. He is stern by nature; a hard worker with no time for frivolities. This molds him into a rigidly, almost unhealthily uptight individual. His smiles wobble just the slightest bit, as if they could topple over any minute. Or crumble into something darker. Gokudera's smiles come off more as grimaces than anything else because he isn't very good at hiding his inner turmoils. In this sense, being the Storm suits him.

6. Hibari only has one smile, a feral grin that is better suited to a creature of a more primal life form that has the capacity of holding only one thought in its tiny brain: kill. It's a humorless, bloodthirsty grin that is frightening because it shows that Hibari truly enjoys fighting. He has known nothing but, and no one has really had the gall to teach him otherwise. His lips pull back over white teeth and red gums so that only the canines show, as if to really make good on his saying to bite you to death.

7. Yamamoto's smile is perhaps more frightening that Hibari's _and_ Mukuro's. Not the wide, sheepish one that he gives when he accidentally hits the ball over the fence and into the teachers' lounging area, but the quieter, Wolf In Sheep's Clothing smile. Yamamoto doesn't smile this one often, but it comes out every now and then when someone has made the mistake of pissing him off, or threatening him. Tsuna doesn't like it at all, when Yamamoto smiles this smile. It tells him that Yamamoto is capable of much more than murder. Tsuna more than dislikes this smile; he hates it. It's lopsided.

8. Joshima Ken doesn't even know he has this smile. If you were to point it out to him he would blink at you and go, "Eh?" It's the smile that slides onto his face when he's imagining what Chrome Dokuro might look like under her Kokuyo uniform. The tongue does not loll out, but rather pushes up against the sides of his mouth, and his lips part slightly. Ken would never share these thoughts aloud, but sometimes Chikusa catches him with that grin and makes assumptions on his own that are more accurate than he thinks. They _are_ teenage boys, after all, and Chrome doesn't have a clue how attractive she is. Ken usually thinks about the panties, but occasionally he'll imagine sticking his hand up her shirt and cupping what is there, and that smile will worm its way out like a sneaky mouse.


	8. 13 things Daemon Spade won't brag about

All characters © Amano Akira

_Summary: _A series of points, secrets, and little things that no one in the Vongola's really stopped to notice over the years. If they had, they'd probably scream.

* * *

_**Enumerated: We are the Mafia**_

_13 things Daemon Spade doesn't like to brag about  
_

_._

1. The Vongola Primo was his first and only friend. He never told Giotto this outright, but it was something, somehow, the Boss just seemed to _know_.

2. He couldn't stand Italy after a while, so after his alleged betrayal he built a private estate on what is now the outskirts of Namimori. The only reason the building still stands tall today, three centuries later, roped in dark ivy and looming like the open mouth of a whale, is because no one dares go inside. The unfortunate construction workers who try often get...confused when they enter. Some even start to scream.

3. Daemon Spade knew the last generation of the Medici Famiglia, of which Bartolomeo Cristofori was a patron of, personally. Hence, he had one of the very first fortepianos in existence despite the fact that he was not musically inclined in the least. He used to taunt G about his fortepiano and how no one ever got to play it, since G was the only guardian besides Giotto himself who had musical talent. G was known for being able to keep his cool; Daemon was known for making him lose it.

4. Even though he made the effort not to wear the standard wigs and frills Italian men of the day wore, he had still been mistaken for a girl. On numerous occasions. He just didn't get it. Ugetsu practically wore a dress, yet Daemon was the one who always ended up being called _signora._

5. He had a fascination with ghosts, stories about ghosts, and graveyards. Legends also held a topic of interest with him; illusions of the mouth were almost as fun to play with as illusions of the mind. Daemon never liked mirrors, though. Even though his more-than-prominent narcissistic streak could let him stare into one for hours, Daemon didn't believe in absolute reflection. Nothing can be perfectly mirrored, he believed, which is why illusions and illusionists are almost always flawed.

6. Daemon Spade has been a lot of different people in the course of his lifetime. Granted, three centuries gives way for countless identities: emperors, mafia dons, even animals. Posing as Joseph Mengele had been a blast. But Daemon is partial to the ones that _don't_ stick out, because they're the ones that you can really work your magic with.

7. "Julie" is his favorite alias. Julie is slick, suave, and has style. When in a pinch, Julie can talk his way into and out of everything with as much charm as a witch's broom. Julie can fit in, too, and can get away with almost anything. The guy has the look of a cowboy-slash Brooklyn photographer from the '80's which has an odd way of working despite the clashing styles. And the best part is that Julie does _not_ look fifteen.

8. Katou Julie actually used to be a real person— a Japanese descendant from the first generation of the Shimon Family, in Germany. Daemon had killed him when Julie and Enma were in the sixth grade. Enma never even knew the difference.

9. Daemon knows that he has to keep up "Julie's" ruse of disturbing lewdness, but not all of it is an act. Chrome turns him on a _hell_ of a lot more than he'd admit to anyone, and it doesn't help that she acts so damn vulnerable all the time. He had a pretty good hard-on when he took control of her mind.

10. He's seen the movie _Inception,_ and he thinks it's ridiculous. The human mind is a lot more complex than that, he knows, yet at the same time it's a lot more simple.

11. Rokudo Mukuro has yet to earn his respect until he controls the Vongola. Daemon's not worried though; he can see it's only a matter of time. The boy was made after his own heart.

12. Adelheid's the only one who suspects that something's _off_ with Julie. He knows that she knows, and she knows that _he knows_ that she knows, and it's pretty good entertainment to mess with her when they're on their down time. He also thinks that Shitt P. notices a lot more than she says she does—she was always smarter—but even Daemon knows not to mess with her. Yet.

13. He lost touch with reality a long time ago, which is his only and biggest weakness. It will be his downfall, and, somewhere in the back of her mind where she holds on to the last bit of self-control, Chrome is dimly aware of this fact.


	9. 6 times Lambo surprised Reborn

All characters © Amano Akira

_Summary: _A series of points, secrets, and little things that no one in the Vongola's really stopped to notice over the years. If they had, they'd probably scream.

* * *

_**Enumerated: We are the Mafia**_

_6 times Lambo surprised Reborn (and everyone else)__  
_

_._

1. Ipin, thinking he was a broccoli monster, was chasing him. That in and of itself was nothing new. Tsuna and the rest of the Sawada residence had gotten used to the quick, rabbit-light thumps of Lambo's socks against the hardwood floors as he ran from imminent destruction. Usually Nana or someone else intervened before Ipin could hurt Lambo too badly. Everyone was stunned, however, when this time Lambo skidded to a stop mid-chase, turned around, and gave Ipin a big smooch on the cheek. Ipin's hatred for broccoli has diminished considerably since then.

2."Ne ne, don't you mean 240?"

Gokudera blinked at his papers and looked down at Lambo, who, at age seven, sill had a habit of sucking on his thumb. "What?"

"You said there were fifteen troops, and they each had about sixteen guys," Lambo replied from around his saliva-coated digit. "That's 240, not 230."

3. The second grenade, hidden in a place that you would rather not know about. Most would even wonder how Lambo even had the physical capacity to hide in _there. _Reborn himself hadn't even anticipated that, and he almost didn't block it in time. Sawada Tsunayoshi, on the other hand, didn't need the grenade's explosion to be mentally scarred for life.

4. That time when Tsuna had not only been beaten within an inch of his life by the Gavani family, but had also been sexually molested by their don who, as it turned out, had had a closet fetish for young Japanese boys. When the time came for the younger kids to visit Tsuna in the hospital, Reborn decided to explain the situation to Lambo exactly as it was. He believed that if Lambo got any more sugarcoating the kid would become a mental diabetic, so he failed to omit the more disturbing details. When he had finished Lambo nodded, walked calmly into the hospital room, and merely hugged a battered and heavily drugged Tsuna. He hadn't dropped a single tear.

5. Reborn discovered it under Lambo's pillows; at ten Lambo had yet to be indulged with the artful skills of hiding things. Apparently, from the influence of Fuuta's care for so many years, Lambo had made a ranking book of his own. The funny thing was, it turned out to be pretty accurate. Reborn still references it from time to time, unbeknownst to anyone.

6. Reborn had been up late, gazing silently at his reflection in the window and listening to the Tsuna's soft snores from the four-poster bed. He would have to give his own Trial to Tsuna tomorrow. Could he do with without seriously injuring them all? They would most likely fail, and then what? He had been lost in these thoughts for some time before someone double-tapped his shoulder tentatively.

Lambo climbed up onto the windowsill, hugged him then, and told him it would be all right.


	10. 8 times Fuuta's ranking book was wrong

All characters © Amano Akira

_Summary: _A series of points, secrets, and little things that no one in the Vongola's really stopped to notice over the years. If they had, they'd probably scream.

* * *

_**Enumerated: We are the Mafia**_

_8 times Fuuta's Ranking Book was wrong  
_

_._

_Fuuta de la Stella had taken note of 86,202 mafiosos by the time he was six. Within those, roughly 500 persons belonged to the Vongola. When it wasn't raining, Fuuta's rankings were almost always right. Almost. Here are a few times where they weren't._

1. Lambo had been ranked number one most huggable person in the mafia. Perhaps it was because of his big, green eyes, his adorable inferiority complex, or his Woobie status, but Fuuta's sources deemed Lambo to be the most huggable mafioso. It was never stated outright, and Fuuta is almost ashamed to admit that he might have been wrong, but the number one most huggable person in the mafia turned out to be Gianini. Most mafioso were natural combatants, meaning they were usually underweight and roped with hard muscle. But, working in the technical department, Gianini was not only softly pudgy, but he was a great comforter. His hugs felt _wonderful,_ almost like hugging a warm stuffed animal, and people just wanted more.

2. Yamamoto Takeshi had been ranked number one healthiest person in the mafia. He followed a daily routine with enough rest, little stress, and he only ate freshly prepared sushi from his father's shop. His easy, carefree attitude and charismatic energy (which they called _genki,_ in Japanese) made the chronic worriers like Gokudera and Squalo green with envy and blue with jealousy. So, it was with rather surprising when Yamamoto's hospital records not only displayed extreme calcium and iron deficiencies in his blood and bones, but that he'd been incarcerated for pneumonia and appendicitis as a child. He would die of Parkinson's at the age of 52.

3. Sawada Tsunayoshi had been ranked least likely to become a mafia boss. Hah. This is one ranking Fuuta can laugh over any day, and is one he is very glad to have been wrong about. Now, at 25, Tsuna had turned the Vongola into the second most lucrative family in the entire mafia world.

4. Mukuro had been ranked the fourth creepiest mafioso, which was pretty accurate in the eyes of most people. But that ranking had been _before_ anyone had seen Bianchi's temper. No one had really wanted to know exactly how Bianchi made her poison cooking, and, after an unnamed someone in the Varia had the gumption to really get her angry, Bianchi had been called a witch and had gotten the nickname, "The Surströmming Sorceress."

5. Miura Haru had been ranked four hundred fifty-seventh in intelligence. Near the bottom. Since the Vongola had never thought to include her in their plans, they just assumed her daft when she never knew what was going on. Then, she had started to show an interest in Italian firearms when she turned eighteen. Reborn decided to tutor her personally, on a whim, and discovered upon doing so that she was by far the best student he'd ever had. She went through books at an uncanny speed, and memorized facts even quicker. Haru and Gokudera ended up working together on the statistics and internal planning branch of the Vongola, and even Gokudera himself admitted that she was impressive.

6. Hibari Kyouya had been ranked least likely to have nightmares. He was a highly uncreative individual with little personality and simple interests. Eat, sleep, fight, keep order, and sleep again. Nightmares were caused by stress, desire, sadness; herbivorous emotions that he had no time for in his busy schedule of discipline. However, Rokudo Mukuro is one of the few people who knows personally that Hibari _does_ dream, and he _does_ have nightmares from time to time. They were always the same: Namimori in chaos or ruins, or a grass-munching herbivore (usually Tsuna or Mukuro) standing on top of his defeated body. Hibari was afraid of them because they were cruelly accurate: they showed him what he feared the most.

7. Xanxus had been ranked three hundred ninth in kindness. Bel still wonders how those new leather tie-up boots got into his closet after he'd lost one of his old ones in Preveza. Lussuria still wonders if Xanxus was drunk the time he took Lussuria to the basement and gave him a personal training session on Muay Thai. Squalo knows better than to grumble thank you to Xanxus on those rare occasions where Xanxus would do all of the Varia's laundry himself. And Fran, well, he knows he should thank the idiot boss for giving him his own room, but it's not the kind of thing you really went up to him and _said._

8. Gokudera Hayato had been ranked most likely to die young. He was a chain smoker by the age of fourteen, his blood pressure was too high, and he had an unfortunate proclivity to put the lives of others before his own. Despite his unhealthy habits, Gokudera was still reading bedtime stories to Fuuta's children when he came to visit, and he was still around to see the crowning of the Vongola Undicesimo: Sawada Tsunayoshi's grandson.


	11. 8 times Hibari didn't care

All characters © Amano Akira

_Summary: _A series of points, secrets, and little things that no one in the Vongola's really stopped to notice over the years. If they had, they'd probably scream.

* * *

_**Enumerated: We are the Mafia**_

_8 times Hibari Kyouya didn't care  
_

_.  
_

1. It had just been one of those things, those little things that suggested the general populace was out to make his job even more difficult. That irksome dynamite herbivore hadn't even been_ supposed_ to be training anywhere near school grounds. But that guy always had little respect for the rules, and one of his dynamite sticks had misfired during his training. Chrome Dokuro had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. If Hibari hadn't moved her out of the way and stopped the explosion, it would have damaged Namimori's baseball outfield and her guts would have been troublesome to clean up. Afterward the girl had thanked him for saving her and had planted a quick kiss on his cheek. It had been the first time a woman (or anyone, actually) had ever had the gall to touch him in such a way. It wasn't _too_ much of a terrible experience, as things turned out. But Hibari didn't really care.

2. Sawada Tsunayoshi, the grass-chewing part-time herbivore, had had the stupidity to come to school with the flu last January. He'd bumped into Hibari in the hallway, which meant certain death for sure for walking in his line of fire. Instead of the usual quavering "hee! Hibari-san's gonna kill me!" there was only a dull, disinterested, "sorry, Hibari-san." Hibari had stared at Tsunayoshi with his eyes narrowed for a good minute before placing a hand on the other's forehead. Then, with a flat remark on how Namimori wasn't a petri dish, Hibari had sent Tsunayoshi home with a dismissal slip. The herbivore had been burning up. But it was Sawada's own fault if he was too stupid to go to the doctor; Hibari didn't really care.

3. The briefing of Operation CEDEF. Hibari took pride in the fact that he was smarter than most of the herbivores in Sawada's family, and that he had more common sense that the other ones. During the meeting, Sawada had asked him a question regarding his predictions on the Cervello's weaponry. It had been simple. Not only had Hibari not known the answer, but the sloth of the Varia had decided to answer for him. Correctly. Tsunayoshi had stammered a quiet, "thank you, Belphegor," to which the latter grinned like a whale and Hibari tried not to fume at his momentary loss of cognitive function. But Hibari didn't really care.

4. In 2014, the Namimori Board of Health decided to demolish Kokuyo Land. Sawada Tsunayoshi, now in full command of the Vongola, could have easily provided Kokuyo's inhabitants with proper lodgings and financial support. But Rokudo Mukuro, believing that he and his cohorts didn't need "outside help," decided to hide the fact from the Vongola that they were currently homeless and artfully lied about their situation. Hibari just happened to be there, a few months down the road, when Tsunayoshi forcibly brought Mukuro and co. to the Vongola headquarters in Japan. They had been living in the underpass of the Namimori bridge; all weighed less that 50 kilos, Ken had pneumonia, and Rokudo Mukuro himself was too malnourished to do much but sleep for the next few weeks. It was a sorry sight indeed, and anyone else would have felt pity. But Hibari didn't really care.

5. Hibari stared at his paper with an expression that differed little from the pernicious scowl he usually wore. He had failed his biology test. It was difficult to believe, considering he lectured the student body on a quotidian basis apropos the food chain and the power of the apex predators. Obviously, something had gone wrong with the exam. Maybe the teacher did not understand that carnivores would rule the world one day. But Hibari didn't really care.

6. Dino Cavallone, suffering from a katana wound, was lying in the hospital bed with a punctured lung, multiple infections, and internal bleeding. The katana had been laced with a deadly combination of mild poison and more bacteria than a septic tank; for a while it had been touch and go. Sawada had not slept in two days, and the loud Varia commander was poorly disguising the fact that he was a nervous wreck. Even the Baby was unusually silent. After half a week Dino had finally woken up, and when the Baby told him the news Hibari had merely shrugged. If the Bucking Horse had died, it would have only meant one less sparring partner, he told himself. Because Hibari didn't really care.

7. Hibari had been the butt of many jokes at Vongola parties regarding his "abstemious" drinking habits. It was no secret that he could not hold his alcohol thanks to that get-together following Sawada's inheritance (which Hibari would rather not discuss for the sake of his dignity). Unfortunately, this provoked an array of jokes, jibes, and imitations regarding Hibari's low tolerance for drink. When it came to parties, heck, Sawada Tsunayoshi himself had the gall to smile along and laugh with the others, albeit behind one hand to anticipate any incoming tonfa. Even _Leon_ seemed to be grinning at Hibari. But let them jeer all they want; Hibari didn't really care.

8. Namimori graduation. The BOE had allowed him to stay as a prefect until he was nineteen because he had insisted that the school needed more discipline. But once Hibari turned twenty, they could allow him to stay no longer and suggested he graduate with the current senior class. So he did, complete with a parting speech, graduating robe, and his indelible imprint on Namimori high. He would have had to leave sometime, and the Baby had once told him that every man must sacrifice the thing he loves at one point or another. Namimori would be a part of him forever, so it wasn't like he was really _leaving,_ per se. Just moving on. It was simply a building, after all.

But Hibari didn't really care.


End file.
